Produced by Charles Keller
A MASTER'S DEGREE
By Margaret Hill McCarter
TO THE KANSAS BOYS AND GIRLS WHO HAVE NOT YET EARNED THEIR DEGREES; AND TO THOSE OLDER IN YEARS, EVERYWHERE, "CAPTAINS OVER HUNDREDS," WHO WOULD WIN TO THE LARGER MASTERY.
In the old days there were angels who came and took men by the hand and led them away from the city of destruction. We see no white-winged angels now. But yet men are led away from threatening destruction: a hand is put into theirs, which leads them gently forth toward a calm and bright land, so that they look no more backward; and the hand may be a little child's.
GEORGE ELIOT
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
THE MEETING I. "DEAN FUNNYBONE" II. POTTER'S CLAY III. PIGEON PLACE IV. THE KICKAPOO CORRAL V. THE STORM VI. THE GAME VII. THE DAY OF RECKONING VIII. LOSS, OR GAIN? IX. GAIN, OR LOSS? X. THE THIEF IN THE MOUTH XI. THE SINS OF THE FATHERS XII. THE SILVER PITCHER XIII. THE MAN BELOW THE SMOKE XIV. THE DERELICTS XV. THE MASTERY THE PARTING
A MASTER'S DEGREE
THE MEETING
...There is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth, When two strong men stand face to face, tho' they come from the ends of the earth! KIPLING
IT happened by mere chance that the September day on which Professor Vincent Burgess, A.B., from Boston, first entered Sunrise College as instructor in Greek, was the same day on which Vic Burleigh, overgrown country boy from a Kansas claim out beyond the Walnut River, signed up with the secretary of the College Board and paid the entrance fee for his freshman year. And further, by chance, it happened that the two young men had first met at the gateway to the campus, one coming from the East and the other from the West, and having exchanged the courtesies of stranger greeting, they had walked, side by side, up the long avenue to the foot of the slope. Together, they had climbed the broad flight of steps leading up to the imposing doorway of Sunrise, with the great letter S carved in stone relief above it; and, after pausing a moment to take in the matchless wonder of the landscape over which old Sunrise keeps watch, the college portal had swung open, and the two had entered at the same time.
Table of contents (by pages)
- 1: A Master's Degree by Margaret Hill McCarter
- 2: DEAN FUNNYBONE Nature they say
- 3: For the Wreams were a stubborn
- 4: Discouraging as all this must have been to Fenneben
- 5: Wherefrom the town of Lagonda Ledge takes its name
- 6: ' I never knew a Wream that didn't have that fault
- 7: Fenneben came straight to the purpose of the interview
- 8: Burgess was looking at the floor now
- 9: Fenneben looked fondly at his niece
- 10: Fenneben said as he welcomed the country boy into his study
- 11: Fenneben with wide serious eyes
- 12: And Lloyd Fenneben knew when to drop a subject
- 13: Fenneben watched her about her work this morning
- 14: But then few college presidents are like Lloyd Fenneben
- 15: As he approached the Saxon House
- 16: She caught sight of Lloyd Fenneben
- 17: The Kickapoo Corral had its uses
- 18: That point was Victor Burleigh
- 19: Victor Burleigh looked at her with frank
- 20: Vic was telling the story well
- 21: Joshua Wream for Dean Fenneben's angle of vision
- 22: And slaughtered every Kickapoo here
- 23: Before Vic could push her forward
- 24: A form straightened up stupidly Shay
- 25: Vic keeps that little boy all right
- 26: He did not repeat Bond's words regarding Vic
- 27: As Vic felt his way along the stone
- 28: Vic could fight any man living
- 29: Burleigh turned hastily toward the door
- 30: Elinor Wream had been ill after the night of the storm
- 31: What Dean Funnybone calls 'Norrie
- 32: And the Sunrise bleachers took fire
- 33: There was a seat waiting for him beside Elinor Wream
- 34: Vic Burleigh's beef can win the game out there
- 35: The invincible quarterback was away again
- 36: The bleachers chanted eleven counts
- 37: For a group of girls was surrounding Elinor Wream
- 38: Lloyd Fenneben had such a heart
- 39: Fenneben quoted with a smile in his eyes
- 40: He was in love with Elinor Wream
- 41: And Dennie looked up gratefully
- 42: Because the Wreams love colleges best
- 43: Fenneben seemed oblivious to the situation
- 44: I'll carry my troubles up to Big Chief Funnybone
- 45: Which Fenneben only guessed at
- 46: The thirteenth auspicious date
- 47: Even from the rest of the glen
- 48: Burleigh looked down at her gratefully
- 49: ' I've wondered if Bug is his name
- 50: Did this Gresh ever trouble you again
- 51: I want to Botany wiv urn over there
- 52: Vic said as he watched the river
- 53: All the greater because Victor Burleigh
- 54: Burgess wanted to marry Norrie Wream
- 55: He insists that Burgess likes Dennie
- 56: Vic said as they were crossing the rotunda
- 57: Behind the speech was Lloyd Fenneben himself
- 58: Vincent Burgess said with equal grace
- 59: Professor Burgess wondered again
- 60: When a Wream gets to kingdom come
- 61: Lagonda Ledge is in mourning for you
- 62: Bond Saxon had avoided Burgess since the event
- 63: Like the Wreams back there in Cambridge
- 64: On the night of the Fenneben accident
- 65: Clutching Vincent Burgess by the arm
- 66: It was Maytime when she went away
- 67: With Elinor once more in Lagonda Ledge
- 68: And Elinor put her hand in Victor's
- 69: He'll hound Funnybone to his doom yet
- 70: Wream holds scholarly achievement as the greatest life work
- 71: Who would n't want to marry Elinor Wream
- 72: Burgess would change the subject
- 73: He thought Fenneben was dead then
- 74: We met once before in this rotunda
- 75: I've been sandpapered down all right
- 76: Fenneben put a small package into Burleigh's hands
- 77: Victor Burleigh of the junior class at Sunrise
- 78: As Gresh on the April day had watched him inside
- 79: Gresh gained the mastery again
- 80: Softly Fordive us our debts as we fordive our debtors
- 81: Fenneben returned to Lagonda Ledge
- 82: Fenneben was hesitating a little now
- 83: Victor Burleigh stood up to his full height
- 84: Vincent Burgess and Victor Burleigh
- 85: That's why Nathan Wream married her
- 86: Gresh stood motionless a minute
- 87: But now the heartache of parting was his
- 88: You are to graduate from Sunrise tomorrow
- 89: Elinor turned and waved a good by to him
- 90: Lloyd Fenneben was bending over her
- 91: Vincent Burgess and Dennie Saxon
- 92: Lloyd Fenneben in Sunrise by the Walnut
